Ihab Masoud Juha, 51 years of age, died two days ago , November 4th 2024, after over five years of unlawful pretrial detention, during which he was subjected to medical negligence that amounts to murder by omission, after the terrorism judicial circuits insisted on renewing his detention despite his critical health condition, for more than three years after the compilation of the legal maximum limit for pretrial detention (two years), during his illegal inhaling the Prisons Authority refused to allow him to undergo surgery necessary for his condition, and only gave him medicines not intended for his treatment.

Juha died eight days after an electronic session to renew his detention, during which Judge Wagdy Abdel Moneim, head of the Third Terrorism Chamber in Badr, decided to renew Juha's detention for an additional 45 days. The decision was issued in Juha's absence. The judge did not question with him, nor listen to his statements or complaints, and did not take into account what the EIPR lawyer said about Juha being in critical care on an inhaler at the time of the hearing at the Miri Hospital in Alexandria.

Over the past five years, Juha's health has deteriorated during his unlawful detention.  In addition to his diabetes, the complications of which became apparent during his incarceration, Juha developed buildup fluids on his lungs in Badr 1 prison during his third year of unlawful pretrial detention, and as his health deteriorated, he became wheelchair-bound and unable to move independently. Juha's health condition required frequent paracentesis, but the Prison Service only allowed him to undergo the procedure twice and then only gave him antibiotics, which affected his overall health.

Juha's wife and four children live in Gharbia governorate, while he was detained in three prisons between Cairo and Alexandria, namely Tora, Badr and Borg al-Arab. Juha's family was deprived of any real contact with him, as they were limited to one visit per month at the time, as the Ministry of Interior is still using the preventive measures it imposed during the coronavirus outbreak, regarding visits to detainees, even years after the pandemic ended. Moreover, the prison administration insisted that the visits take place after he was transferred in a wheelchair from the prison hospital to the visiting hall to see his wife, despite his poor health, and despite the fact that Article 76 of the executive regulations of the Prison Organisation Law allows visits in the prison hospital.

It was not difficult; Juha could have been saved, and he could have been spared any of what happened during the last five years of his life. But the State Security Prosecution, the Badr Terrorism circle, and the Prisons Authority refused.

 The Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated Juha in connection with Case 1358 of 2019, known in the media as the 'Istiqlal Party' case, without confronting him with either real evidence or witnesses and subsequently decided to remand him in custody pending the case despite there being no justification for his pretrial detention. The terrorism chambers continued to renew his detention in violation of the law after he exceeded the legal limit of two years in pretrial detention in felony cases. The Assistant Minister of Interior for the Prison Service did not respond to a letter from Juha's wife demanding that he be transferred to a prison with a hospital, and the Prison Service ignored requests made by EIPR lawyers last August to transfer Juha to a jail closer to his family's home. 

 and to enable him to undergo the necessary hydropsies for his condition.

During the five years Juha spent in prison, there were several opportunities to correct his situation and release him, but the relevant authorities decided to ignore them all. In 2020, when the coronavirus became a pandemic, Juha could have been released from prison, as he was not convicted, and there was no fear of him running away or influencing the investigations. Neither Juha nor anyone else was released at the time. Egypt did not respond to appeals by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to reduce overcrowding in Egyptian prisons and release those held in pretrial detention during the pandemic.  Then, in 2021, Juha was supposed to be released after serving the legal maximum, but that didn't happen either. In 2022, the President of the Republic recommended reactivating the 'Presidential Amnesty Committee to release 'those detained in connection with cases and against whom no judicial judgements have been issued.' The conditions were applicable to Juha, but the committee's work did not continue, and Juha's name, like many others, was not included on the limited lists prepared at that time. 

Over the past five years, a 'National Strategy for Human Rights' was issued, and the law was amended to change the term' prison' to 'correction and rehabilitation centre', but the situation remains the same, with detainees still dying from medical negligence. 

Juha was the sole provider for his wife and four children (the youngest of whom is 6 years old). There is no adequate consolation for Juha's family, and there is nothing that can reassure the rest of his colleagues who have been imprisoned for more than 5 years in connection with the same case or others who have exceeded the legal limit for pretrial detention. Yet, their detention continues to be renewed.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to open an urgent investigation into the Prisons Authority's handling of Juha's medical file in a way that led to his death. Noting that Juha's case is not an isolated one, EIPR calls on the Public Prosecutor to review the situation of pretrial detainees, immediately release anyone whose detention has exceeded two years, and develop a clear plan with a specific time frame to respond to all health care requests submitted by detainees to either the Public Prosecution or the Prisons Authority.